The Labour Party's newest MP has given his maiden speech to Parliament on Wednesday.
David Shearer won the Mt Albert by-election in June with a majority of more than 9000 votes.
The seat was vacated by former prime minister and Labour MP, Helen Clark, who is now head of the United Nations Development Programme.
Mr Shearer says before he decided to run as the Labour candidate for Mt Albert he was overseeing the UN effort to reconstruct Iraq.
He says it was a tough decision to put his name forward for the by-election, but it came down to believing that he can make a real and positive difference.
